February is
Black History Month, and a wonderful time to recognize the struggles and triumphs of all the exceptional people in the Black community. The library is filled with books for all ages to help families teach and learn about notable individuals and movements that brought our country to where it is today.
Picture Books
Amazing Grace - Mary Hoffman
Although a classmate says that she cannot play Peter Pan in the school
play because she is black, Grace discovers that she can do anything she
sets her mind to do.
Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt - Deborah Hopkinson
A young slave stitches a quilt with a map pattern which guides her to freedom in the North.
I Have a Dream - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Presents illustrations and the text of the speech given by Dr. Martin
Luther King, Jr. on August 28, 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, in which
he described his visionary dream of equality and brotherhood for
humankind.
Freedom Song: The Story of Henry "Box" Brown - Sally M. Walker
Henry Brown copes with slavery by singing, but after his wife and
children are sold away he is left with only his freedom song, which
gives him strength when friends put him in a box and mail him to a free
state.
Fictional Chapter Books
Elijah of Buxton - Christopher Paul Curtis
In 1859, eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman, the first free-born child in
Buxton, Canada, which is a haven for slaves fleeing the American south,
uses his wits and skills to try to bring to justice the lying preacher
who has stolen money that was to be used to buy a family's freedom.
The Mighty Miss Malone - Christopher Paul Curtis
With love and determination befitting the "world's greatest family,"
twelve-year-old Deza Malone, her older brother Jimmie, and their parents
endure tough times in Gary, Indiana, and later Flint, Michigan, during
the Great Depression.
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Mildred Taylor
A black family living in the South during the 1930's are faced with
prejudice and discrimination which their children don't understand.
One Crazy Summer - Rita Williams-Garcia
In the summer of 1968, after travelling from Brooklyn to Oakland,
California, to spend a month with the mother they barely know,
eleven-year-old Delphine and her two younger sisters arrive to a cold
welcome as they discover that their mother, a dedicated poet and
printer, is resentful of the intrusion of their visit and wants them to
attend a nearby Black Panther summer camp.
Feathers - Jacqueline Woodson
When a new, white student nicknamed "The Jesus Boy" joins her sixth
grade class in the winter of 1971, Frannie's growing friendship with him
makes her start to see some things in a new light.
Non-Fiction Books
Fly High! The Story of Bessie Coleman - Louise Borman
Discusses the life of the determined African woman who went all the way to France in order to earn her pilot's license in 1921.
Through My Eyes: The Autobiography of Ruby Bridges - Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges recounts the story of her involvement, as a six-year-old, in the integration of her school in New Orleans in 1960.
Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down - Andrea Davis Pinkney
"This picture book is a celebration of the 50th anniversary of the
momentous Woolworth's lunch counter sit-in, when four college students
staged a peaceful protest that became a defining moment in the struggle
for racial equality and the growing civil rights movement."--
from Amazon.com.
Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass - Lesa Cline-Ransome
The inspiring story of young Frederick Douglass's path to freedom through reading.
What Was the Underground Railroad? - Yona Zeldis McDonough
No one knows where the term Underground Railroad came from--there were
no trains or tracks, only "conductors" who helped escaping slaves to
freedom. Including real stories about "passengers" on the "Railroad,"
this book chronicles slaves' close calls with bounty hunters, exhausting
struggles on the road, and what they sacrificed for freedom. --
Provided by publisher.
Brown Girl Dreaming- Jacqueline Woodson
The author shares her childhood memories and reveals the first sparks
that ignited her writing career in free-verse poems about growing up in
the North and South. --
Provided by the publisher.
Other great titles you shouldn't miss...
Bud, Not Buddy - Christopher Paul Curtis
Barefoot: Escape on the Underground Railroad - Pamela Duncan Edwards
Underground - Shane W. Evans
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice - Phillip Hoose
Back of the Bus - Aaron Reynolds
Pop in to the library to find all these great titles and many others!
Titles can be reserved and sent to any branch of the Easton Area Public Library for $0.50.
